The present invention relates generally to complete body passive exercise devices and more particularly to a machine which moves the arms forwardly and rearwardly, moves the legs up and down, rotates the ankles, and moves the feet.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that individuals who are paraplegic, quadriplegic, or in rehabilitation, have the need for passive exercise machines which work muscles that the user can not work on his or her own. It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all of the muscle groups must be worked and must be worked in specific ways in order to be effective. To this end, there have been several attempts to provide passive motion exercise devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,213 issued to D. Redding on Oct. 23, 1984, discloses a therapeutic limb manipulator. The Redding device only moves the legs. It fails to move the arms and torso.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,501 issued to C. Durham, et al. on Feb. 25, 1986, discloses a non-passive exercise device. The arms crank pedals which, in turn, move the feet. The range of motion of the feet is limited to rotation about a center point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,399 issued to K. Richardson on Sep. 27, 1988, discloses an exercise device whereby the arms are passively moved forwardly and rearwardly and the feet are moved about a center point. Unfortunately, the movement of the legs is too limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,673 issued to F. Heneger on May 29, 1990, discloses a passive device which exercises the legs and moves the feet about a fixed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,736 issued to Hirschreid on Jul. 23, 1991, is a passive exercise bicycle which moves about a fixed point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,257 issued to R. Kaiser on Jun. 9, 1987, discloses a device which moves the arms and legs. However, it is intended for a user in a reclined position. It is not accessible by wheel chair. The same is true for U.S. Pat. No. 5,099, 828 issued to C. Duke on Mar. 31, 1992 and for U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,623 issued to L. Mahlandt on Jun. 22, 1975.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,541 issued to A. Parker, Jr. on Sep. 4, 1990, discloses a passive device which moves the user's arms and legs. Unfortunately, the leg movement is limited to an upward and downward motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,203 issued to D. Wadelton on Dec. 7, 1971, discloses a passive foot and leg exercise device. No work is done on the hands.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,892 issued to F. Sawdon on Jun. 7, 1992, discloses an arch exerciser. Neither the hands nor the legs are moved.
What is needed, then, is a complete passive exercise machine. This needed machine must move and work the hands and arms. This needed device must also work the torso. This needed device must work the ankles as well as the legs. This device must work all of the major muscle groups at the same time. This device must be wheel chair accessible. This device is presently lacking in the prior art.